Knitting Pipeline is sponsored by my Longaberger home businessn and Quince & Co.

Knitting Pipeline is sponsored by Quince & Co. and Knitcircus Yarns

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Episode 71 Handmade Holidays

Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site for current and past episodes.

This show is sponsored by my Longaberger home Business  and Quince & Co.
If you are looking to support American goods, then you can start with Quince & Co with their beautiful and reasonably priced wools sourced in the US.  Check out Finch, their new fingering weight in colors inspired by nature. www.quinceandco.com

Needle Notes

Love the shoulder detail.  Front of sweater.

Back of Saddle Shoulder Sweater
Paula’s Projects:  Woodturner’sPully.  Elizabeth Zimmermann’s SaddleShoulder Sweater.  After washing and blocking it measures out perfectly!  Photos with nephew wearing it coming after Christmas!

Label for sweater.  I tried a wool label, first ironing onto freezer paper to stiffen the fabric.  Bronwyn suggested printing oncomputer.  I may try backstitching on counted cross stitch fabric.  Ecological Wool makes a very light but warm sweater.


·         Free Pattern by Purl Soho

·         My original estimate was about $80 and then I backed off and said it was an exaggeration.  It wasn’t.

·         Mine cost $10.    Pronto by Sandnes was $5 per ball.

·         Charted the texture pattern.



Sarah on Ravelry  aka MotherEarthKnits

Handmade Holidays


Just some of the great ideas:

Sarah's Homemade Granola 



Paula:  Whole WheatCinnamon Rolls. Partially bake them, freeze, and recipients bake them for a yummy breakfast.  I used this technique from King Arthur Flour.  Sarah and Bronwyn are trying them out.
Feel Free to copy and paste my instructions to include with the gift.  I printed on card stock.
Paula’s Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Rolls
Night before: Take buns out of the freezer and  put in the refrigerator. (See note below.)
In the morning: Take them out of the refrigerator. Let them warm a bit as you preheat your oven to 350°F. 
Bake for about 10 minutes, until they're a very light golden brown. Remove from the oven, brush with butter. Add streusel topping and bake another 5 min.
Enjoy!
Paula
You can also take them out of the freezer in the morning and just bake them a little longer.  (They are partially baked).
In the Pipeline
Per last week’s episode, the Doc Martin second movie wasn’t good.  Two stars.
Enjoyed The Pit Pony.  Has piping in it.
Downton Abbey Season 1 watching again. New season Jan 8.

High Note Low Note

High Notes:
  • Paula: The Week Between Christmas and New Years
  • Sarah: Christmas Cards
  • Bronwyn: Fondue

Low Notes
  • Paula: Stickiness
  • Sarah: Accidental Felting
  • Bronwyn: Poorly tied skeins of yarn

Knitting Pipeline Retreat

March 2-3 2012
(Friday evening and all day Saturday)
Crossroads United Methodist Church, 1420 N Main St., Washington IL 61571
$50 or $40 for Sat only
Mail check to Knitting Pipeline, PO Box 549, Washington IL 61571
Merry Christmas!  Haste ye back!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Episode 70 Postcard from Elizabeth

Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site for current and past episodes.  Subscribe on iTunes!

Thank you to our sponsors for this episode!
Quince & Co
If you are looking to support American goods, then you can start with Quince & Co with their beautiful and reasonably priced wools sourced in the US.  Check out Finch, their new fingering weight in colors inspired by nature. www.quinceandco.com


Ewe-nique Yarns is a full-service yarn shop located at The Field Shopping Center in Morton IL.  Among the items they carry are a full line of Addi needles, Chiagoo, and Knit Picks.  They also stock Malabrigo, Madelinetosh, Frog Tree. Elsabeth Lavod, Debbie Bliss, Claudia Handpainted, Louisa Harding, Rown, Sublime and dozens more.  

Debbie and Jenny are happy to ship to Pipeliners.

When you purchase from our sponsors please let them know that you listen to Knitting Pipeline!

Pipeliner Notes


There was a lot of mail this week and notes on the board in support of reading the letters from Elizabeth Zimmermann.  Thank you so much for your support.  I am overwhelmed. 

I won’t throw away all the knitted baby things.  It was a rash statement.  Wool blankets that cannot be machine washed are not so practical for today’s mothers although they do seem to have superhuman strength when I see them carrying those car safety seats. 

Nature Notes 

At dawn on Saturday December 10 I saw the lunar eclipse and then a terrible house fire.  I forgot to say on the show that no one died in the fire.  Even the pets were saved. 

After visiting with Charr and Bronwyn on Tuesday morning I saw a very sad event with squirrels.  I will never look at a squirrel in quite the same way again. 

Nature Poem

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.

'We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,'
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
- Oliver Herford, I Heard a Bird Sing


Needle Notes
 
My nephew Eric, turning a bowl in my dad's shop.




EZ Saddle Shoulder Sweater from Knitting Workshop by Elizabeth Zimmermann  Schoolhouse Press

My project notes are here.  Woodturner Pulley
Elizabeth percentage system=EPS
The spirals were inspired by woodturning.


Spiral Ribbing came from Knitting on the Edge by Nicki Epstein

 Microsoft excel is useful when planning cables and ribbing

In the Pipeline

We are currently watching: 

The Grand (watch instantly on Netflix)

Doc Martin   the movies



The Blethering Room

Finch from Quince & Co


100% American Wool
221 yd [202 m] / 50g  $7.25
9 sts /inch on size US 1 needles
7 sts / inch on size US 3 needles

Finch is a little sprite, a fingering-weight with the slightest of halos. It's soft to the touch, yet its neatly twisted plies give it a smooth, tailored finish that’s sturdy and hardwearing. It's perfectly balanced for an even stockinette stitch, and you’ll love how it shows off texture and lace patterns—perfect for Fair Isle, too.

 When blocking a piece with cables and texture do not block the cables. 


The Piping Circle 

Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums had a Christmas Party last Thursday night

Ben and Donna's home was featured in Country Sampler Magazine November 2011

Isn't this the most cozy corner?

Celtic Cross Friends

 I’ve been revamping my pipes.

Note from Elizabeth
 I read a postcard from Elizabeth Zimmermann that was written to me in February 1980.




Music

Coventry Carol  Magnatune Christmas.  www.magnatune.com

Haste ye back!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Episode 69 A Letter from Elizabeth Zimmermann...with two n's

Listen here or use the Flash Player on the show blog.  Subscribe on iTunes!


This show is sponsored by Quince & CO  If you are looking to support American goods, then you can start with Quince & Co with their beautiful and reasonably priced wools sourced in the US.  Check out Finch, their new fingering weight in colors inspired by nature. www.quinceandco.com 

Thanks for the birthday wishes last week! 

Young deer that showed up during recording session for this episode.


Bereft by Robert Frost

Where had I heard this wind before
Change like this to a deeper roar?
What would it take my standing there for,
Holding open a restive door,
Looking down hill to a frothy shore?
Summer was past and the day was past.
Sombre clouds in the west were massed.
Out on the porch's sagging floor,
Leaves got up in a coil and hissed,
Blindly struck at my knee and missed.
Something sinister in the tone
Told me my secret must be known:
Word I was in the house alone
Somehow must have gotten abroad,
Word I was in my life alone,
Word I had no one left but God.



Needle Notes 


Baby Sweater on Two Needles by Elizabeth Zimmermann from Knitter’s Almanac.  It is better known as February Baby Sweater.  I used Knitter’s Brewing Company Fingering Weight sock yarn.

The February Lady Sweater (not by EZ) is actually more popular than the FBS. Projects on Ravelry: 6675 for Baby Sweater and 11,505 for FLS by Pamela Wynne 

Knitter’s Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Schoolhouse Press  (February) Some Babies Things.  Have knitted everything in this chapter but the bonnet with the flap over the shoulders. 

Leggings.  I have made at least two pair.  Red and white striped ones were the cutest.  Not the most practical garment for modern moms. 

Blanket knitted from center out.  Have done it with lace and also in a heavier yarn with texture pattern and colorwork. Was told that pioneer woman put a cream or white border on blankets so Baby would perceive this is a boundary.  Per my experience, did not work. 

Double knitting blanket was a carriage blanket.  I used Schoolhouse Press Sheepsdown and my own handspun.  May have steeked and put a zipper in it. 

Blethering Room 

Pete’s Socks…pulled off the colors! 

Handed Down Patterns.    Joy started a thread asking about knitting patterns that have been passed down.  Mother’s slipper/bootie pattern she called pods.  Under “Some Things Never Change…”   

In The Pipeline: EZ Saddle Shoulder Sweater 

Book Notes 

  $14.99 Interweave knits Holiday Gifts.  Holiday 2011  Some of my favorites are McHenry by Susan B Anderson, Hollyberry Bonnet and Cape by Kyoko Nakyoshi, and Handwork Mitts by Julie Turjoman.  Recommended.


High Note:  

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls/Cinnamon Raisin Bread.  Used the Best Whole Wheat Bread Recipe from www.urbanhomemaker.com.  Divided dough in half.  One half for a loaf of bread and the other half made two pans of cinnamon rolls.  Streusel:  ½ c brown sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon.  I use Penzey’s.  Roll out dough.  Spread with softened or melted butter.  Sprinkle topping on and roll up.  For the rolls I reserved a few Tbs topping.  Took rolls out after 20 min.  Brushed tops with butter and sprinkled on the streusel.  Baked another 5 min. 

I read a letter from Elizabeth Zimmermann from Jan 1980.  There are references to Moebius and her development of the concept.





 The musical selection today is The Moon of Wintertime by Lydia McCauley.  I appreciate each one of you.  Thanks for writing to me, thanks for participating in our Ravelry group, for leaving comments on the blog, and most of all for listening to the show. 

Knitting Pipeline Retreat
March 2-3, 2012
Washington IL  61571
$50 for Fri night and Sat or $40 for just Sat
Reserve your spot now!



Haste ye back!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Episode 68 Star Toe and Christmas Knitting

Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site.
This episode is sponsored by our friends at Quince & CO.  If you are looking to support American goods, then you can start here with their beautiful and reasonably priced wools.

Annabel Babe Cardigan in Quince & Co Chickadee in Snap Pea and Glacier.
Cap is At First Sight by Laura Linneman in Quince & Co Lark.

Thanks to Charr and Bronwyndp for joining me on this episode!

Winners of Rip Van Winkle Challenge!

Prizes:  Thin Ice Shawl by Laura Linneman (1 to each winner)
Nubby Noro Mittens by Annie's Woolens (1 to each winner)
3 skeins Soft Touch Ultra from Shelridge Farm 100 % Wool Fingering weight. 185 yd each.  (from my stash)  to winner #1


Grand Prize Winner: #42 Elisann
#19 Teal--wins both patterns!
#2 jpeled--wins both patterns!

Congratulations and thank you to our prize donors!

Local knitter hot spots mentioned on the show:
The Blend.  Our local coffee shop and hang-out.
Ewe-nique Yarns.  Morton IL  a full-service yarn shop.  They carry a full line of yarns and tools including Malabrigo, Madelinetosh, Elsabeth Lavold, Noro, Debbie Bliss, Sublime, KnitPicks Needles, Addi, Chia Goo, Hiya Hiya....and the people are friendly!  What more can a knitter ask for?


Heart Hat by Elizabeth Zimmermann.  Picot BO is my own touch.

Seamless Yoked Baby Sweater by Carol Barenys with Heart Hat
Owl Puffs by Jenna Krupar
Can you see where the gauge changed when I switched to Kollage dpn's?

Smitten Mittens by Emily Ivey

Hitchhiker by Martine Behm
Textural Healing Shawl by Shannon Squire
Holly, Ivy, and Steve Three Christmas Hooligan Ornaments by Rebecca Danger
Nubby Noro Mittens by Annie's Woolens
Annabel Babe Cardigan by Carrie Bostick Hoge
Heart Hat by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Baby Sweater on Two Needles by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Seamless Yoke Baby Sweater by Carol Barenys
Smitten(A Holiday Garland) by Emily Ivey.  www.yarnmiracle.com
Big Snowy Owl by Purl Soho
The Bee Keeper's Quilt by Tiny Owl Knits aka "Hexipuffs"
Sock Blanket by Shelly Kang
Owl Puffs by Jenna Krupar
Irish Hiking Scarf by Adrian Bizilia
Palindrome: A Reversible Cable Scarf by Kristin Bellehumeur
Seamless Saddle Shoulder Pullover by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Bridge of Roses by Wendy Gaal.  The Knitters' Brewing Company

Star Toe for Socks

Set up as if you are doing a common wedge toe with even numbers of stitches on 4 dpns. 
  • Round 1   Knit to last 2 stitches on needle.  Knit 2 tog.
  • Round 2   Knit around
Repeat above until you have half the number of stitches you started with.  Then do the decrease row on all rounds until you have 8 stitches remaining.  Cut yarn and run through these 8 stitches. For a simple sock formula see:
Sock Tips from Have a Yarn

Charm on Charr's Shawl

Bronwyn's Handmade Christmas:
Pie in a Jar

For these recipes Bronwyn has experimented with recipes found online and has come up with her own versions.  Bronwyn's Disclaimer: I'm no expert! Try your own version and experiment. These are both fragrance free, but you can add essential or fragrance oils for scent. They also contain nut oils and butters, so be mindful when giving them as gifts.

Bronwyn's Solid Lotion Bar

2 oz beeswax pastilles
1 oz shea butter
1 oz kokum butter (or 1 oz cocoa butter)
2 oz sweet almond oil
(all measurements by weight)

Stir ingredients together in a double boiler until melted. Pour carefully into molds (soap or candy molds, recycled pudding or fruit cups, etc.). Cool for several hours. Pop out of molds and into tins for giving away. To use, rub the solid lotion bar on hands as you would soap, except with no water.

Yield depends on the size of your molds, of course.

Bronwyn's Sugar scrub

30 oz sugar
7.5 oz coconut oil
7.5 oz sweet almond oil
(all measurements by weight)

Stir ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. Pour into jars. To use, spoon a small amount of scrub into your hand and rub over palms and backs of your hands. Rinse with warm water and pat dry. Be careful not to introduce water to the jar to reduce bacteria growth. Yields about 12 half-pint wide-mouth jars. To make a smaller amount, a sugar to oil ratio of 2:1 is good.
Sources for oils and tins: http://www.mountainroseherbs.com, http://www.elementsbathandbody.com, or your local grocery or health food store, and, of course, www.amazon.com.

Podcasts/podcasters mentioned:
  • Diane of Knitabulls
  • Meghan of Stitch It! Podcast
  • Susan of KnitaJourney
  • Erin of MommyNeedsYarn
  • Laura and Leslie of TheKnitGirllls

Knitting Pipeline Retreat
March 2-3, 2012 (Fri night and all day Sat)
$50 or $40 for Sat only
See information in sidebar.

Mail registration to Knitting Pipeline Retreat, PO Box 549, Washington IL 61571

Haste ye back!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Episode 67 Donkey Ears and Pig Eyes

Listen here or use the Flash Player on the show blog. 
This show is sponsored by my Longaberger Home Business www.longaberger.com/paula .  Sign up for my sale newsletters and special offers by sending an email to Paulaef@aol.com.  Please include your name, address, and phone.
Nature Notes 
For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!
~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Afterthought Heel Socks by Laura Linneman 

Ginger from Mississippi found the solution for those pesky donkey ears on the corners of heels and toes that have been grafted (Kitchener) in:


Donkey ears are for donkeys, not sock toes: To avoid those little boxy corners on your grafted toes, slip the outermost stitch on each end on each needle over its nearest neighbor, eliminating four stitches which might have gone boxy on you. Now graft.

Ginger adds:
This works great on DPNs or two circs but if you’re using magic loop the stitches should be transferred to DPNs first. I slip the first two stitches on the left needle to the right needle, then pass the first slipped stitch over as if binding off, then move the remaining stitch back to the left needle. Another way to do this is use a crochet hook to pull the second stitch on the left needle through the first stitch (dropping the first stitch) and then putting that second stitch back on the needle. 

Cat Bordhi's web site and blog 

Little Box of Socks by Charlene Shurch and Beth Parrott

Vogue Knitting featured Martha Stewart and her new line of yarn from LionBrand.

I have a new favorite whole wheat bread recipe.  You can throw away the other one.
Before baking.  These are the bread pans I bought from The Urban Homemaker.
Cooling after baking.  I put a clean tea towel over the loaves, but of course, I had to take it off for the photo.
Ready to slice!


The Urban Homemaker

Best Bread Recipe

Rip Van Winkle Challenge

Enter for the prizes on our Ravelry board on the thread Prize Entries for Rip Van Winkel

The prize thread will close on Dec 1, 2011.

Nubby Noro Mittens Pattern by Annie's Woolens

Shawl Pattern by Laura Linneman  Thin Ice 

3 skeins Soft Touch Ultra from Shelridge Farm  100 % Wool Fingering weight.  185 yd each. 

Product Review
The Best of Knitscene: a Collection of Simple, Stylish, and Spirited Knits.
by Lisa Shroyer
Highly Recommended.
High Note
Meghan of Stitch It!! Podcast introduced me to:

Good Earth Original Caffeine Free Tea
(I see their packaging has changed from what I have.)

 Music 

Diana Rowan.  Panta Rhei.  Track 07 The Sea Set. www.magnatune.com 

You can find me on Ravelry as PrairiePiper 

Knitting Pipeline Retreat March 2-3, 2012
(Friday evening and all day Sat) in Washington IL
  information on overnight accommodations is in the side bar, along with registration information.

 

Friday, November 11, 2011

Episode 66 Afterthoughts

Listen here or use the Flash Player in the sidebar.  Subscribe on iTunes! 
Link to episode should work on 11.11.11. by 8 PM.
This show is sponsored by my Longaberger Home Business www.longaberger.com/paula .  Sign up for my sale newsletters and special offers by sending an email to Paulaef@aol.com.  Please include your name, address, and phone.

My Annual Open House is Sunday, November 20th.  Contact me for details or visit www.longaberger.com/paula

Thanks to you...

Knitting Pipeline has had over 200,000 downloads since July 2010!  There are over 300 star ratings on iTunes.  Thanks to each one of you for listening, sharing, and being a part of the Knitting Pipeline Community.
Pipeliner Notes

 I read a note from Karin ("miterwriter" on Ravelry).  A little brown bat, nicknamed "Bertie", has been living on a light fixture in their garage for almost 15 years!  A wonderful story of wild animals and humans coexisting peacefully. 

Note on last week’s Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal:  it is a good idea to refrigerate any leftovers.

Winners of J-Knit apps

JKnit HD for iPad--Moz aka enquery, Peggie aka BleedingHeart, and Marsha aka Teal

JKnit--Barbara aka blb, Monique aka georgiedean, and Sally aka svjanis

Knit Evenly--Lynne aka knittensmitten, Ròs aka scarhandpiper, and Lu aka LuciaKnits

 Thank you, Bronwyn, for contacting the winners!

 Nature Notes
Flying Fox (Bat).  photo by Tim Jannech, husband of Kayak on Ravelry.

Thanks to Prairiegl (Leah) in OK for asking about cleaning bird feeders.
Bob joins me for Nature Notes, but only for a short time because he was grading papers.
Tips for Clean Birdfeeders
Non-Toxic Bird Feeder Cleaning


The one red leaf, the last of its clan,
That dances as often as dance it can,
Hanging so light, and hanging so high,
On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Needle Notes

Nellie by Donna Higgins

Update on the Crochet flower closure. Directions are a bit sketchy.
I watched You Tube videos and managed to crochet the flowers by myself!  (Charr was out of town.)
I attached one side of the button with flower and the other side serves as a button closure.




Finished Projects

Piper’s Fancy
Celtic Cross wears ancient red flashes.  Our tartan, The Flower of Scotland, has a stripe of the ancient red in it.  I like my ancient red Piper's Fancy Shawl with the uniform.




Piper in the woods.
It works when I look like a normal person, too.

I needed a project that was completely mindless.  This crescent shawl that has increases at the beginning of every row so it doesn’t have a wrong side.

Afterthought here is that I did not plan the border beforehand.  I swatched a lot!

Nubby Noro Mittens by Annie’s Woolens



Has an afterthought thumb.
My pattern notes are here.
Love the pattern as the texture adds interest without being too fussy.  Every other round is a plain round so it is easy to see where you are in the pattern.
Afterthought Heel Socks by Laura Linneman
Knit Picks Felici Sport Weight
With this type of heel how do you prevent getting “ears” on the corners where you begin and end the Kitchener Stitch?  I might try decreasing at corners just before doing Kitchener.
What I did learn.  Sometimes you do need to power through.
 In The  Pipeline
A Ravelry Note
A new feature on Ravelry is that if you have your yarn stashed and you use stash yarn for a project then a little thumbnail photo of the yarn will appear in your project notes.  It’s tiny but it is there!

The Blethering Room
Registration is in progress for the Knitting Pipeline Retreat!
March 2-3, 2012 Washington IL
$50 for Fri night and all day Sat.  $40 for Sat only
Registration information is in the sidebar.

My first afterthought insertion of any kind was an afterthought pocket in my Three in One Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann.
Rip Van Winkle Challenge
Go through your Ravelry queue to find a project that has been asleep for a long time.  Or maybe you have been asleep while others have been knitting this project.  In your Ravelry queue you can see when you put projects in your queue.
Another mission for the overachievers out there:  go to your stash and try to find your oldest yarn and match it to an pattern in your queue.

There will be a separate thread to enter for prizes.  November 15-30.
High Note
Better Homes and Gardens is kicking it up a notch! Not as traditional as it used to be.  Inexpensive subscription and you get free digital editions with paid subscription!  More knitting magazines should do this because knitting from a magazine is for me, very tedious.

Stockinette Zombies is a new video cast that I enjoy.  Check it out!
Music
Have a great week, haste ye back, and hold your knitting close.

About Me

My photo
I play the Great Highland Pipes, knit, observe nature, and read. My name on Ravelry is PrairiePiper. Find me on Instagram as KnittingPipeline.